Northern Alberta Field Day a First

While Sports Turf Canada and the WCTA have a great tradition of producing specialized turf management field days, on August 23rd, an event was held in the northern part of the province for the very first time.

Hosted by Leanne Nadwidny of the Edmonton Parks Department and her amazing staff, the full day of education, networking, trade show and demonstration stations took place at the impressive Rundle Park Family Centre along the river in the northeast part of town.

“New sites are always a little scary not knowing the layout but it was the perfect venue for us,” commented WCTA Executive Director Jerry Rousseau adding, “We could not have pulled this off without the never-ending support from Leanne, her crew and the City of Edmonton.”

By the numbers, nearly 50 sportsturf managers participated along with 20 exhibitors, 3 speakers, and 5 afternoon demo stations. Approximately 85 total attendees took part coming from as far away as Jasper, Banff, Vancouver and Saskatoon.

The full day program began with a very special keynote speaker, Dr. Casey Reynolds, Turgrass Producers International Executive Director, who reinforced the benefits of turf to those who take care of it on a daily basis. Next up, Jason Pick from Olds College gave attendees a review of turf management best practices and coming in at cleanup, Tab Buckner from the Township of Langley brought forward some synthetic turf maintenance pointers.

Dr. Casey Reynolds delivers the keynote address to an attentive group of turf managers at the Rundle Family Centre in northeast Edmonton.

Morning education sessions were followed by lunch and dedicated trade show time before the demos got going. Delegates were put into groups and cycled through each of 5 stations, including the trade show, at 25 minute intervals.

An outdoor trade show with 20 exhibitors kicked off the afternoon.

The Spider robot mower is always a crowd pleaser, especially when participants get a chance to be the operator!

It was a busy week for Stan Kazymerchyk of Kwantlen University with back-to-back First Green presentations.

One of our Premiere Sponsors, Keso Turf, talks turf to delegates at one of the 5 demo stations.

That’s Lyall Adams of Wood Bay in the white shirt, another one of our Premiere Sponsors, showing off the FDS 9200 high speed turf dethatcher.

A pano view of the site, perfect for a successful event!

The Alberta summer field day comes on the heels of very successful partnerships between STC and WCTA last year in Langley and two years ago in Calgary.

Anne Baliva, Sports Turf Canada Executive Director commented, “It’s always great to bring together those within the industry to learn, laugh and share information. Thank you for your support of this event!”

CLICK HERE to download the full list of exhibitors and event sponsors.

Sports Turf Canada was established in 1987 at a meeting held at the University of Guelph to address the need to minimize and avoid turf-related injury on athletic fields. Almost thirty years later the association continues to passionately promote better, safer sports turf through innovation, education and professional programs across the country.

The WCTA is a 700+ member, inter-provincial, not-for-profit industry organization whose purpose is to promote the interchange of scientific and practical knowledge through education, discussion, research and to undertake advocacy relating to the care and management of turfgrass. The WCTA is proud to serve and support a diverse range of professional turf management interests such as golf courses, school boards, municipalities, sod farms, nurseries, landscapers, lawn bowling greens, mechanics, horticulturists and industry suppliers.